Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to processing for generating an image viewed from a virtual viewpoint.
Description of the Related Art
Techniques have been discussed which use a plurality of image data pieces of the same scene captured from a plurality of different viewpoints to generate image data (hereinbelow, referred to as virtual viewpoint image data) viewed from a viewpoint (hereinbelow, referred to as a virtual viewpoint) different from the viewpoints used to capture the image. As example of a method for generating virtual viewpoint image data, there is a technique for estimating a pixel value of the virtual viewpoint image data using image data obtained by image capturing and a depth map indicating distance information of an object corresponding to each pixel of the image data. However, it is difficult to accurately obtain a depth map corresponding to image data, and especially at a boundary portion where an object is changed, a depth map of which distance information is incorrect is obtained in some cases. If virtual viewpoint image data is generated using such a depth map, an artifact is generated in the generated virtual viewpoint image data.
As a method for resolving the above-described issue, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-225740 discusses a technique for generating high quality virtual viewpoint image data by correcting a depth map based on contours of an object respectively extracted from image data and the depth map using the image data as a reference.
However, the technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-225740 has an issue that if the distance information is erroneously estimated in a region distant from the contour of the object, the error cannot be corrected since the depth map is corrected based on the contour of the object.